The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
About $6 million in necessary reductions included in the preliminary Fiscal Year 2026 budget will impact school district programs and, to a lesser extent, staff, schools Superintendent John Ravally told the Board of Education at its March 18 meeting.
The cuts are needed to balance the budget, which has been hamstrung by rising costs and reductions in state aid, Ravally said.
Among the cuts: Eliminating after-school busing, reducing the number of safety personnel and custodians, and eliminating Saturday detention and the peer mentoring program.
“Challenging times, fiscal challenges and adjustments,” he said.
The preliminary $197,815,318 general fund budget presented to – and approved by – the Board is powered by a $168,942,490 tax levy, an increase of 4.2 percent from the 2025 tax levy of $162,114,985, Business administrator Stephen Fried told the Board.
Add in the special revenue and debt service, and the preliminary operating budget tops out at $224,691,572, Fried said.
That’s 1.9 percent higher than the 2025 figure of $220,487,087, he said.
Ravally told the Board that $3.3 million in cuts will occur in program adjustments, and $2.7 million in cuts will come from staff adjustments.
Among the programmatic casualties:
- Eliminating after-school busing
- Eliminating Saturday detention
- Eliminating Peer and Positive Impact Mentoring programs while looking for grant funding
- Reliance on services provided by vendors will be reduced, and certain services will be brought in-house
- Reductions in consumable materials, such as paper
- In the athletic department, cutting bus routes and eliminating some coaching positions
- Reducing the Road to Success program to four hours daily from six hours
Among the staff cuts are:
- Reducing certificated staff positions, with fewer academic instructional coaches, academic interventionists, and administrative support personnel
- Reducing non-certificated staff positions, with fewer safety personnel and custodians.
Even with the cuts, funds for a number of services and programs will be maintained, Ravally said. Those programs include:
- Behavioral health supports
- Surveillance cameras and the visitor management system
- Pine Grove Manor’s after-school enrichment program, with food
- The Warrior Health Center for staff
- Growing the aviation program and adding a cyber security program
The preliminary budget now is sent to the Somerset County Executive Superintendent of Schools for review and approval.
Once the County Superintendent approves the budget, it comes back to the District for an April 24 public hearing and final adoption.
The slide presentation used by Ravally and Fried can be found here.
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